The Internet and the personal computer are on a collision course.  This collision is set to take place very soon especially with two 800 pound gorillas they’re both tech giants, Google and Microsoft.  Microsoft is racing to enter into the business of online search and online advertising and Google is racing to enter into the business of desktop applications powered by the Internet.

Google is working very hard to offer free web applications covering products that will compete directly with Microsoft office in Microsoft Excel.  Two years ago they partnered with Sun Microsystems and are finally rolling out a free version of StarOffice.  Google is essentially subsidizing the cost of StarOffice and paying Sun so that Google can provide the software free.

In return, Google is hoping to integrate the applications with their search and other product offerings to gain a greater level of control over the Internet and over people utilizing their computers and their computers online.

Up front, Google’s free office software looks like a good deal and will probably increase productivity for a number of business users which is truly what it’s all about.  The problem is that both Google and Microsoft represent a monopoly in their respective industries.  The competition between these two monopolies will provide consumers with a good deal up front, but the price consumers will pay for the lack of competition later on down the road could be staggering.

The truth is that consumers cannot afford for either Google nor Microsoft to win this battle.  If either company wins the battle the lack of competition will probably bring progress in product development and Internet usage to a grinding halt around the world.  Microsoft has suffered from slow product development for a decade now and Google has started to slow down its development process already also.  Both companies often times opt to chase competitors out of the market place as opposed to compete with them fairly using their bulk and financial strength to increase the cost for competitors to even enter the market.

Google even has the power to blacklist companies from the Internet if they fail to comply with Google’s rules which further entrench their force as the search engine monopoly that they are.

NewsFactor Network | Google Now on a Collision Course with Microsoft

This entry was posted on Friday, August 17th, 2007 at 1:13 pm and is filed under Google, Microsoft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.